| What is so great about Great
Britain?
"What is so great about Great Britain?"
It's a question you may have asked yourself if you are thinking about studying
at a British university or college. But there is much more to the answer
than simply pointing out the numerous examples of world-class education
Britain has to offer.
Most students, whether young or mature,
are looking for an experience of a lifetime when they decide to invest
in an overseas education. They are hoping to add value to their studies
by encountering a new, rich and dynamic culture, society and lifestyle.
Britain has all of this, as local people might say. "by the bucket-load"
(rough translation: an extremely generous quantity). If you expect added
value means only history and heritage-Shakespeare, Westminster Abbey, King
Henry VIII, the old British empire-you are living in a time warp. Think
The Spice Girls, the Millennium Dome, Richard Branson, Princess Diana,
Kate Moss, Tony Blair, and Anita Roddick.
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Britain has long since abandoned
its "stiff upper lip", transforming itself into a nation of open-minded,
flexible, well educated, wired (top in European multi-media and telecommunications),
"go-getters". A roll call of over 100 Nobel Prize winners, is testament
to the achievements of some of Britain's best scientists, writers, economists
and peace-makers.
But while Britain's position as an
island has fostered the kind of independent and creative thinking that
leads to original ideas, inventions, and discoveries, it is far from isolated.
The opening of the Channel Tunnel to France has made travel to Continental
Europe so much easier and quicker. A trip on Eurostar from London to Paris
takes just three hours. When you fly to Britain, you will probably land
at the world's busiest airport, Heathrow in London. From there, you can
transfer by air to Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, or Belfast. Or there
are numerous rail and coach links to all the major cities, mostly within
just a few hours' reach.
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| If you stay in London, many would
say you are in the world's capital for finance, fashion, food, and fun.
If it's culture you're looking for, you will be spoiled for choice. London
is one of the world's greatest centres for music and theatre. There
are performances nearly every week by internationally renowned orchestras
and artists, reaching a peak during the summer proms season at the Royal
Albert Hall. London's West End is famous for its theatres, but you can
take in much more than the long-running musicals. The recently opened Globe
Theatre, for instance, provides regular performances of Shakespeare's plays
in authentic surroundings. London's many museums cover almost every subject
imaginable, while its galleries are a must for anyone interested in art
history or contemporary works. As a student, you are likely to appreciate
Britain's unrivalled dance scene, which has given it a world wide reputation
as the Club Nation. More and more good quality clubs have sprung up across
Britain. Many universities and colleges are also on the clubbing and pop
music circuits for DJs and bands.
You might wonder if other towns and
cities outside of London have so much to offer. The fact that so many of
them, such as Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath,
Oxford, Cambridge, and York, are so well known to tourists is one indication
that the answer must be
"yes". Manchester, for instance,
home of internationally-acclaimed soccer club Manchester United, pop giants
Oasis, and some of Britain's finest beers, has undergone a transformation
through the 1990s. The city has seen an explosion in cafe culture and European
bars and restaurants-
developments which have been appreciated
by its sizeable student population.
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Thousands of people flock to Edinburgh
every year for the city's "fringe" festival of the performing arts. Cardiff,
in south Wales, is one of Britain's fastest developing cities, with a university
which is playing a key role by forging
close links with business and industry.
Even the traditional world-famous
university towns of Oxford and Cambridge are moving ahead with the times
with industry connections through Oxford's science park and significant
investment in developments around Cambridge from global companies such
as Microsoft. As well as the
old universities, Oxford and Cambridge
have the newer Oxford Brookes University and Anglia Polytechnic University.
Similarly, Nottingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Liverpool,
and Birmingham, all have old and new universities focussing on different
areas of expertise.
Another benefit of studying outside
London can be the close proximity of some beautiful countryside. Of course,
it's not too difficult to get out of the capital into the country, but
many of the beauty spots are in the heart or the north of England, Scotland,
Wales, Ireland, or the south west
peninsula of Cornwall. Walking is
almost a national pastime in Britain, and walkers are well catered for
on all the best trails.
Whether in the country or a city
dweller, many overseas visitors to Britain appreciate the variety in climate
throughout the four seasons. These are accompanied by sporting seasons:
soccer and rugby in the autumn and winter; cricket and tennis in the summer.
You can ski during the winter in Scotland, and from spring to autumn find
some of the world's finest golf courses. In the south of England the autumn
brings world events in surfing and windsurfing. Britain is also famous
in sporting circles for its snooker, motorsport, show jumping, horse racing,
and rowing.
The diversity and richness of life
in Britain is reflected in the wide choice of educational institutions,
which have produced a wealth of talent. Ten of the world's top 35 medicines
were discovered or developed in Britain, which trains around 10,000 doctors
and health professionals from overseas every year. Scientific advances
span the decades from Isaac Newton's law of motion through to Manchester
University's invention of the computer and Brian Joseph's work on superconductivity.
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Behind this impressive list of achievements
is a university and college system which is designed to encourage inventiveness
and excellence in all academic and vocational fields of study. For good
reason, the British higher education system has a world wide reputation
for quality. That
quality is safeguarded in a variety
of important ways. A nation wide quality assurance system is seen by many
countries as a model for keeping a check on standards and quality in higher
education. It involves both regular auditing of universities' and colleges'
own quality assurance systems, and teaching quality assessments (TQAs)
in all subject areas. The TQAs give each assessed programme a rating in
six dimensions: curriculum design, teaching and learning, student achievement,
student support, learning resources, and quality assurance. The results
are published in reports from the QAA which are freely available. In
addition, Britain's higher education funding councils run quality checks
on research in universities and colleges every four years. The Research
Assessment Exercise results in grades
awarded to each participating department. The performance of institutions
in the RAE has a direct impact on their research funding. All further education
colleges are also subject to quality assessment, through inspections carried
out by the funding
councils. A new inspection regime
is soon to be introduced which will cover education and training for all
education and training courses for students aged 16 to 18. |
In Co-operation with:
THE BRITISH COUNCIL
NEW DELHI. INDIA
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As well as good quality, British
further and higher education offers both choice and flexibility. There
are more than 90 universities and 52 university sector colleges to choose
from, along with over 500 FE (vocational) colleges. The latter tend to
have very close links with local
business and industry, which can
be invaluable for the students seeking experience in the workplace. The
universities and higher education colleges are as diverse as you can imagine,
even though they all offer good standard degrees. Some of the oldest universities
date back over five
hundred years, although you will
find they all have the most up-to-date facilities and equipment. Most degree
courses in British universities have been modularised or are in the process
of becoming modular, offering flexibility in course design and content.
While British education is undoubtedly
top quality, it should not be seen as elitist. And there has never been
a better time to apply for a place. The British Government is keen to welcome
more and more overseas students . Efforts are being made to smooth the
process of gaining study visas, and to make it easier for students to find
work. There will also be an increase in the number of scholarships on offer.
The hope is that overseas students will find their time at a British university
or college so rewarding they will be able to sum up the experience in one
word: "great".
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